Aperture plate and mechanism for motion picture projection machines



Feb. 2, 1932. A, A 1,843,544

APERTURE PLATE AND MECHANISM FOR MOTION PICTURE PROJECTION MACHINES 7 Filed Sep t. so, 1929 a Sheets-sheaf 1 INVENTOR 6 z/gz/s/a $1970 ATTORN EY A. DINA Feb. '2, 1932'.

APERTURE PLATE AND MECHANISM FOR MOTiON P ICTURE PROJECTION MACHINES Filed Sept. '30, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORN Ex' A. DINA 1,843,544 APERTURE PLATE AND MECHANISM FOR MOTION PICTURE PROJECTION MACHINES Feb. 2, 1932.

Filed Sept. 30, '1929 3 Sheets-Shet 5 O T I N ill either stemisoci film or the movies li' eseoted Feh 2, 1%32 UNITED STAT OFFICE AUGUS'IO DINA, OF JERSEY @ITY, NEW JERSEY, ABSIGNOR T6 INTERNATIONAL PRO- J EGIOR CORPORATION, OF NEW YORE, N. Y., A; CORPORATION OF DELAWARE APEBTURE PLATE AND MECHANISM. FOR MOTION PICTURE PROJEGTIO N MACHINES Application filed. September 30;, 1929. Serial No. 896,088.

This invention relates to motion picture apparatus and has particular reference to new and useful improvements in aperture opening plates for projectors,

A main object of the invention is to revide a simple, compact aperture opening" piste provided with means improveol so thst the character of'the opening may be essily enti quickly varied to adapt it to the rejection of standard films or to movie-tone ilm Without s. seconds waste time.

A further ob'ect is to oro'citie s siinoien s 1 novel, and durs ie mechanism "whereby such s change in the character of the opening may he made instantly and the respective o oeniiigs presented in absolutely accurate siiiiezoeot with the normsi iine of projection.

stiii further object is to psovicle such mechanism that the above change ""i the chefsctei' of the opeoin may be moo. with simo uicie flick of t e fingers of the opesstos with vpositive assurance mix with one toi -o or? past turn of the iceeclionions. the ps2 wili suickiy movecl locked in coco-ices oiined operative position.

Yet soother object is to provide eofi efilcient film trap oloos wiiiciiis cons ed to provide s simple and sees pressoie tile film at the prgoper points when the is in position sgs'inst its cooperstiiig such as s fiimgste,

Further encl moss specific objects advantages will more closely sppee the cieteiieci -desci'iptiori ioeiow in connection Withtlie sec eisswings which form, part o the s x lea, tics which iliostrete one pseferreo'. of the invention.

its geoeroi aspect, ticnicriy concerneii Witi s & sti'octioo which is we 1; connection with machines use tosses film which has stiists one in order to piogect it is necessary ti u o employ e moiiifieci smote wiii not oc Wooiii he tile e se the s' end, therefore, the invention embodies s. sup-' Port which may be in the form of a. gate plate having the standard aperture therein, and, preferably on this support or gate is mounteds slide piste provided with two openings theieini (lne oi these openings is of the standard; size end the other is of s prooer size to adopt it for use with s movie-tone him.

When the same reei may have oi'iiinory stenolerd sections iotersperseo with movietone sections, it is ciesrly seen that it becomes very necessary to change over very quickly from one style of opening to the other and it is especially important tiist this change .be mode with sbsoiute accuracy since it is very important that when one of the slide openings is moveoi into position, that it be exsctiy alineci with the optical sxis for the pee 6! projection. it is port of the present invention. to provide as sim le iisnfi knob which can be quicliiy manipulated by the fingers of one to move the slicie piste from one position to the other with. simple twist the and proviole latching meciisoism on the turning; or moving nieclisoism "which Wiil. ootomsticelly bring the siide piste into one cc the other of two or more positions with absolute sccurscy so that the proper openings see exec'tiy ciineci. it is siso pest oi the in- VGlTijiQl'i the moving mechsnism be operoteci oy o continuous motion of the fingers in one ciirection to move the sifie e'iisectioim in szioiitioii, the i becomes some '"icsliy ioclceei in either its ex tsei'se The present professes ions tic-n is shown the e Lotion showing too "1 oositioiig -Within this chamber there is formed and sup- .plate 17, the edges of which are This s ide shaft 25 is formed with diameter to Fig. 6 is a similar section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3; and

Fi 7 is a similar cross section taken on the line 7--7 of Fig. 4.

As shown in the drawings, the present preferred form of the invention comprises a support forming part of the projection head of the projector and which may comprise a front plate 10 with a erture 11 therein, intermediate lateral beve ed strips 12 and 13 (Fig. 7) and a back plate 14 with aperture 15 therein all held to ether by suitable means such as screws 16 (Fig. 7). These three elements thus held together to form a support may be the usual gate late of the machine or may 7 be any other suitable support with the aperture openin 11 and 15 therein alined and through which the projection beam passes. On the support thus described and between thelateral strips 12 and 13 there is disposed to slide-vertica ly along the plate 10, a slide rovided with a bevel correspondm to the evels on the strips 12 and 13. This slide late 17moves vertically between the front ate 10 and the back late 14 as shown in igs. 5, 6, and 7. plate 17 is provided along its lower portion with two spaced aperture openings therein 18 and 19 one of which is -a standard opening and the other of which is modified as to its width to provide a' movie-tone open- The upper end-of the slide vided with spaced outwar flanges such as 18' and19' provided with rack teeth 20 thereon and the other of which is formed with spaced bevelled holes such as 21 and 22. These flanges project into a chamber formed b an enlarged ortionj23 at the upper end 0 the support late 17 is roly exten ing port-ed a bearing sleeve 24 within the bore of which is disposed a shaft 25 one end of which such as 26 1s tapered to fit into the tapered holes 21 and 22 of the flange 19' when projected thereinto. Intermediate its length the gear teeth 27 to engi ihge the teeth 20 on the rack on the flange 18f. e shaft 25 at its other end is reduced in rovide a chamber in which lies spring 28 w 'ch tends to force the shaft 25 to the left at all time 3. The extreme and of the shaft 25 extends without the sleeve 24 and Pressing thereon is-fixed a hub 29 with a hand knob 30 to permit the shaft 25 to be turned. The nner face of the hub 29 is provided with an inwardly pro ecting ada ilted to project mto a similarly sha ed note 82 on the adjacent face of the en of the sleeve 24.

The back of the plate 14- is provided with a shallow recess 33 in which the film 34 lies. against the film 34 is the usual; trap door 35 having the beam aperture opening Fig. 1, it will be aperture 18 is one of which is tongue 31 which is moved 36 therein. The door 35 is moved into the operative position by any suitable mechanism not shown. Mounted loosely on the door is a plurality;l of spring strips such as 37 which have the s ape of a U and with the base thereof lying along the front face of the door alon the sides thereof to press against thefilm an with the legs of the in the door and bent around at the en s thereof. Springs such as 38 with pins 39 on their ends are disposed on the back of the door and the pins 39 bear against the rear of the U base of the strips 37 to press them against the film as shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

Operation With the parts in the position shown in observed that the slide plate 17 is in its lowermost osition in which the a erture 18 is disposed in line with the opt1cal axis and permits projection therethrough. This aperture 18 is the modified aperture adapted to permit projection of the movie-tone films. It will be seen that this accurately alined with the optical axis and the apertures in the support such as the gate plate and at the same time the tongue 31 is nested in the notch 32 so that the sha t 25 and therefore the slide plate 17 is securel latched against movement. When the stan ard picture film is to be projected then the knob 30 isturned in a given direc-,

optical axisilthen the tongue 31 is again nested in the note 32 so that the shaft 25 is automaticall latched in position.

It wil also be noted that when the slide plate 18 in its two extreme o rative positions, the holes 21 and 22 are 1n line respectively withthe bevelled end of the shaft 25 and the spring 28 will force the end of the U passing throu h slots shaft into these holes to further hold the slide plate in position. 7 The slope of the bevel engagement between the end of the shaft 25 and the holes 21 and 22 is difierent from the slope of the engagement between the tongue 31 and the notch, 32, and the slope of the latter engagement is at a trifle ater itch than the other so that when the be ob 30 gins to turn,

the shaft 25 will be drawn out of the holes 21 1 and suflicientl y in advance of movement of the slide plate 1 1 at these points.

his s mple, compact, d eflicient device furmahes a construction in which, by the mere flip of the fingers, the slide plate may be from one position to another with speed, and be latched in either operative posithat there will be no bind rec messes tion with absolute accuracy relative to the aperture opening in the support such as the gate plate or similar elements and with the optical axis. It will be notedthat on the commencement of the turning movement of the knob 30, the first action is that the shaft 25 is drawn to the right to withdraw it from the corresponding hole in the flange 19' and without binding in this movement. This results from the action of the ten e 31 on the notch 32. Further movement 0 the knob 30 in the same direction will continue the movement of the slide plate 17 and shift the plate from one position to the other. When this other position is reached the shaft again sli s to the left and is pushed into the proper ho e in the flange 19 by the spring 28 at the same time that the tongue 31 drops into the notch 82. Thus in sec extreme position the shaft is locked to the slide plate 17 and the su port such as the ate plate. In other wor s the turning mem or is locked not onl to its sup:

port but also to the element whic it is driving and in between the two extreme positions the turning member is free of such locking engagement to affect its proper turning function. All this takes place with a uni-directional movement on the part of the knob 80 so that the operator has the very simplest sort of a movement to work with. The latch ing of the parts is practically automatir While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to a preferred form thereof, it is to he understood that it is not 35 to be imited to such details and forms since many changes and modifications may be made and the invention embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broader aspects. Hence i 4- it is now desired to cover all forms and modi- 56. port engaging the moving means to move it into engagement with said latching means when the aperture late has been moved to any one of the pre etermined positions.

2. In a motion picture'machine, a slidalole so a erture plate having a plurality of openings 0? different sizes, a support, a turnahle membar on the support, means on the aperture plate co-operating therewith to move the aperture plate, means for turning said memher to move the aperture plate to a plurality gig of predetermined positions and means on the aperture plate to engage and latch the member thereto when the aperture plate has arrived at any of its predetermined positions.

3. In a motion picture machine, a slidalole aperture plate having a plurality of openings of different sizes, a support, a turnable memher on the support, means on the aperture plate co operating therewith to move the aperture plate, meansi or turning said memher to move the a erture plate to a plurality of predetermined positions, means on he aperture plete to and latch the menr her thereto when the aperture plate has an rived at any its predetermined positions, means for laterally shitting said member to disengage it from the aperture plate when desired.

l. in a motion picture machine, a support, a slidahle aperture plate thereon having a plurality of openings of di-fierent sizes, a gear shaft on the support, a A car rack on the slide plate meshing therewit'i, means for turning the shaft to move the slide plate to a plurality of redetermined positions, one end of the shaft eing tapered, the slide plate having a plurality of tapered holes therein at predetermined points, means ermitting the lateral movement of the shai to enter the tapered holes in the slideplate when the shaft has turned the slide plate to one or the other of its predetermined positions, and means on the support to withdraw the shaft from the holes except when the slide plate is in one or the other of these predetermined positions.

5. In a motion picture machine, a support, a slidalole aperture plate thereon having a plurality of openings or different sizes, a gear shaft on the support, a gear rack on the slide plate meshing therewith, a flange on the slide. plate havin a plurality of spaced tapared a ertures therein, the end oi the gear shaft being tapered, a spring tending to move the shaft toward the tapere apertures in the slide plate, a tongue on the shaft, said support, having a recess in which said tongue is adapted to lie in certain angular positions of the shaft, the shaft adapted to he moved by the spring to enter one of the tapered holes when the tongue is nested in the recess, said nesting and engagement occurring only when the slide plate has arrived at predetermined positions.

e. In a motion picture machine, a slidalole aperture plate having a plurality of openings oi difi'erent sizes, a support, a shaft on the support, means co-operating with the shaft to move the aperture plate when the shaft is turned, means for latching the shaft to the support when the aperture plate has been i moved to predetermined positions, and means for latching a portion of the shaft to the aperture plate in any of these predetermined positions, the engagement of the shaft with the support allowing the movement of the aper- 3W in the latching actions above mentioned to ta e place automatically upon the arrival of theaperture plate in the predetermined posi-v tions.

7. In a motion picture machine, a slidable aperture plate having a plurality of openings of different sizes, a support, a shaft on said support, means on the a erture plate co-operating with the shaft or movement of the aperture plate, means for latching the shaft to the support and the aperture plate in redetermined positions of the aperture plate,

and means requiring the unlatching of the shaft from the support and plate at the beginning of a uni-directional movement of the shaft in either direction from the latched position. I 4

8. In a motion picture machine, a slidable aperture plate having a plurality of openings of different sizes, a support, a shaft on sa1d support, means on the aperture plate co-operating with the shaft for movement of the aperture plate, means. for latchin the shaft to the aperture late and means or latching the shaft to t e support in predetermined positions of the aperture" plate, means for unlatching the shaft from the support and the I I aperture plate at the beginnin of a uni-directional movement of the sha t in either direction from the normal position, and means for automatically latching the shaft to the aperture plate and support when the aperture late has been moved to the end of its trave to a predetermined position.

9. In a motion picture machine, a support, a slidable aperture plate thereon having a plurality of openings of different sizes, a single means for moving the slide plate to one or another extreme position on the support 7 by a continuous turning movement of the.

moving means in a given direction or another, means for latchin the moving means to the a erture plate in t e extreme positions of the p ate and means for unlatching the moving means at the beginnin of its movement and latching it at the end 0 its movement without varying the single uni-directional nature of its movement. a

10. In a motion picture machine, a slidable aperture plate having a plurality of openings of different sizes, a support for said aperture plate, a shaft on the su port and means connecting the shaft to t e plate to move the plate from one position to another by a single uni-directional movement of the shaft in one direction or another, means for latching the shaft to the support in predetermined positions of the aperture plate, means for latching the shaft to the aperture plate in said predetermined positions, and means whereby the latching and unlatching of the shaft and the movement of the aperture plate is effected by 'and receivable in tapered holes in. the slide plate, a tongue on t e shaft receivable in a notch on the sup ort, the ta er ofthe holes and the shaft en being less t an the taper of the tongue and the notch, spring means for keeping these tapered parts in engagement, the parts being disengaged bya sin le continuous turning movement of the sha t.

This specification signed this 27th day of September, 1929.

AUGUSTO DINA. 

